Public Security Ministry Spokesman on Arrest of Li Hongzhi

People's Daily, July 30, 1999

Li Hongzhi, head of the illegal " Falun Dafa Research Society", is suspected of having committed the crime of disturbing public order, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security said in Beijing while interviewed by reporters.

He said that the Ministry of Public Security has issued a wanted circular July 29 for the arrest of Li Hongzhi, and the China Central Bureau of the Interpol has also sent an aviso to the Interpol's member states for international cooperation.

The spokesman pointed out that the "Falun Dafa Research Society " is an unregistered illegal organization which has conducted illegal activities to spread superstitious and fallacious ideas to deceive the public and create disturbance, sabotaging social stability.

He said that the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on July 22 that the society and the Falun Gong organization under Li's control are illegal organizations and placed them under ban.

Police investigations have shown that Li Hongzhi set up and made use of the "Falun Dafa Research Society" and his Falun Gong organization to spread superstitious and fallacious ideas to deceive the public, causing deaths of practitioners, he said.

According to incomplete statistics from 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, up to July 28, 743 persons have died as a result of practicing Falun Gong.

Without applying for permits according to law, the organization has plotted and organized gatherings and demonstrations, and instigated people to disturb public order, he said, adding that these activities have gone against the 290th, 296th and 300th provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, constituting a crime of disturbing public order.

The people's procuratorate has approved the arrest of Li Hongzhi, the spokesman said, adding that, according to the 123rd provision of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Public Security has issued a wanted circular to public security departments nationwide for the arrest of Li Hongzhi, and the China Central Bureau of the Interpol has also sent an aviso to Interpol's member states for international cooperation.

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